Britain’s Met Office issued its first-ever amber extreme heat warning on Monday, saying unusually high temperatures are expected in western areas, and continuing high night-time temperatures will create possible health risks.
The warning is similar to the warnings issued when heavy rain or snow is forecast. However, this alert is the first one to be issued by the Met Office since the national meteorological service launched its extreme heat national severe weather warning system at the start of June, according to Yahoo News.
Much of Britain has already seen heatwave conditions for a number of days, but the Met is saying that temperatures are predicted to rise further, reaching 33 degrees C (91.4 degrees F) in some western parts of the country.
“The impacts of extreme heat can be many and varied. It can have health consequences, especially for those who are particularly vulnerable, and it can impact infrastructure, including transport and energy, as well as the wider business community,” the Met Office said in a statement.
In England on Sunday, a temperature of 31.6C (88.88F) was recorded at Heathrow, overtaking Saturday’s record-breaking 30.3C (86.54F) recorded in Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire.
A record-breaking heatwave across the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada has resulted in hundreds of deaths. And while Europe has been unusually hot, torrential rains have caused devastating flooding in parts of Germany, Belgium, and other countries.
Chloe Brimicombe, a Ph.D. heatwaves researcher at the University of Reading, said: “We’re likely to see increased hospital admissions over the next few days, due to heat stress – a build-up of body heat as conditions prevent people from cooling down, even at night – and other heat-related health issues.”
